good morning. the leak. a first close-up look at the source of that massive oil spill that is gushing millions of gallons of crude oil and natural gas into the gulf. as a confidential memo is released showing some of the glitches, including a dead battery, that may have helped cause the disaster. mystery boy. a new image and encouraging news for the only survivor of a tragic plane crash that killed 103 people in libya. doctors say he is now breathing on his own. the question this morning -- who is he? and "wall street street" on the riviera. after the premier of "robin hood" at cannes, the attention now turns to "wall street: money never sleeps." michael douglas and the rest of the cast will join matt at the live in the south of france, "today," thursday, may 13th, live in the south of france, "today," thursday, may 13th, 2010.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television and welcome to "today" on this thursday morning. i'm meredith vieira in studio 1a. hey, matt. >> hey, meredith. i have to confess to you, i was almost late for the program this morning. this morning, it took me longer than i thought to shower all the glamour off me from last night. this place is crazy! yesterday we were talking about the fact they were rushing to get everything ready for the premier of "robin hood." they got it ready, it went off without a hitch. star-studded event, russell crowe, cate blanchett, kate beckinsale, eva longoria. it was really a good time.

we'll have more from cannes this morning, including all the stars of the other highly anticipated film here at the festival -- "wall street: money never sleeps." michael douglas and the rest, including the director, oliver stone. we'll have that later. but meredith, what else do you have coming from new york? >> we'll get the latest details on casey anthony, the florida mother accused of murdering her 2-year-old daughter caylee. this week her defense team asked the judge to take the death penalty off the table. coming up, the important decision that judge has now made. also ahead, anna nicole smith's daughter dannielynn was just 5 months old when her mother died in 2007. she's now 3 1/2 being raised by her father, larry birkhead. this morning they're with us. they'll also share some of anna nicole's personal items being put up for auction. what may have been preventable failures that led to the massive oil spill in the gulf of mexico. nbc's chief environmental affairs correspondent anne thompson is in venice, louisiana

with the latest. anne, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. it's another day on the gulf coast, and with it comes yet another attempt by bp to stop that giant leak. as we learn disturbing new details about what may have started this horrific disaster. this is what the deep sea environmental disaster looks like up close. the unrelenting flow of oil into the gulf. a possible cause coming to light in washington as a congressional committee focused on the blow-out preventer, the allegedly fail-safe system that didn't work the night the oil rig exploded and killed 11 workers. >> when we get assurances from the oil industry year in and year out that this cannot happen, i just don't know how we can ever believe anything that we hear from the oil industry. >> reporter: the panel produced the confidential bp memo titled "what we know," pointing to a hydraulic leak in the blow-out preventer. but there was an even more outrageous revelation.

>> even the battery in this case, the one control panel we did find, the battery wasn't working. correct? >> that's what we were led to believe, yes. >> reporter: what bp hopes will work now is the top hat. this small containment dome to eliminate the ice-like crystals that clog the towering version, the top hat has a riser connected to it with a drill pipe inside. crews will put warm water and methanol into the pipe to keep it warm enough to keep the crystals from forming. also putting a tube into the leaking riser, the pipe that comes out of the well. it would also pump oil to the surface. >> insertion tube method is quite simply trying to insert a pipe far enough into the riser so we're beyond the point where the water is. >> reporter: at the venice marina where silence has replaced the sound of working boats, matt o'brien is trying to held ho hold on. >> i'm hopeful that they can cap it but my confidence is

dropping. >> reporter: there are no fish. >> my main concern is the fishermen ain't going to survive. if they don't survive, i'm out of business. >> reporter: that is the harsh reality here in this spill zone where time isn't on anyone's side. meredith? >> anne thompson, thank you. so is enough being done to stop the leak? the former president of shell is with us and he is the author of "why we hate the oil companies -- straight talk from an energy insider." good morning. is enough being done at this point? >> i think bp has a crisis planned. they're following the different steps of the plan. they're going to try every possible solution. >> is it a smart plan though? >> i think smart -- the fact that the blowout happens says something went wrong. but you plan for these crises just in case. i think it is a smart plan in the sense that it has a variety of options. the options are all different. everyone in the industry knows that the ultimate failsafe plan

is to really do the relief drilling, get down to the base of the reservoir, re-cement the pipe that's carrying the oil out of the reservoir. >> they are in the process of creating that relief well now but that's going to take leaks. >> that's the problem. it is a slow process. i think the whole industry is wondering what in the world happened to that blow-out protector. there are 30,000 wells in the gulf of mexico. every one of them had to be drilled, every one of them had a blow-out protector. >> but the fact that it was defective, does that speak to the company at all and its responsibility here? >> of course it does. a company is responsible for making sure that the equipment that they're using is operational. and if it's not operational, to make the hard decisions of what to do about what's not working. >> they're talking about this top hat, this small containment home, top hat, pinning all their hopes on that right now. what's the success rate of that in the past? >> this is all new territory. what happens with the temperature, the pressures, the forces that exist at 5,000 feet.

most people just can't comprehend. so you really have to do your calculations very carefully if it is going to work at all. they have to try it though. >> they have actually -- bp has actually reached out to the oil industry and said, have you got any ideas? send them our way. and you did send them a possible solution. what was it? >> i'm very worried about the spreading of the slick on the top of the surface. i had the opportunity to meet a few engineers at the offshore technology conference who came forward with experience from another part of the world. the arabian gulf where a huge spill took place some 20 years ago. it was such a large spill, larger than anything we've seen in this country, ever, that they actually deployed super tankers to skim the surface of the ocean. by skimming the surface of the ocean with these huge super tankers in formation, they could collect massive quantities of oil, off-load it, come back out, collect more, and actually the report from these engineers is they had a very clean, clean-up

taking place. >> why didn't we ever hear about this? >> well, the press is not exactly open in that particular part of the world, and it is a spill that was huge but never reported. >> and you mention this to bp. what was the response? >> they were looking into it. i don't know where it went from there. of course, this is also something the coast guard could decide to deploy, the interior department. we're just trying to get the message out there that maybe there is a remedy that hasn't been tried, putting chemical dispersants on the surface of the ocean is not a good thing for sea life. >> you say there is a negative effect here, what they're doing is making the problem worse. >> it solves one problems but creates another which i think potentially makes it much worse. if we can get super tankers in place to skim the surface, they have the equipment and the capacity, and in the scheme of things, 5,000 barrels a day relative to huge super tankers is not a huge amount of oil. >> there's been a lot of criticism, in general, about the lack of federal oversight when it comes to the oil industry and

the drilling offshore. you were in the business, you were in big in the business. is it a case of the oil industry basically the fox guarding the hen house? >> i never thought of it that way. i always respected what the regulators had to say. the experience in the industry is so technical, it is so well developed, that people who work in government may not have the expertise, but they have the authority. and it was my position, and my company's position, that we don't run the industry. we work for according to the permits, the regulations and so forth, and try to make sound judgments in that regard. >> quickly, all the finger pointing that we saw in washington, d.c. over the past couple of days, shameful? >> it's not productive. it's just not productive. i think having hearings on a preliminary basis like this may be good for congress, but we're frustrated because we don't have answers to the questions that are being asked. when documents get produced that haven't been reviewed and somebody has to respond to a document they've never seen before, that's setting somebody

up for a pretty difficult exercise. i've been there. i've been through that process. it is an ugly way to try to get answers. it's better if we can do the investigations and then in a timely way and reveal what we know when we know it. >> john hofmeister, thank you. 7:10. now back to matt in cannes. meredith, thank you. now to the search for the family of the only survivor of wednesday's deadly plane crash in tripoli, libya, a crash that killed 103 people. the sole survivor is a 10-year-old boy now hospitalized with multiple fractures of his legs. dawna friesen is in london with more on this story. >> reporter: good morning. somehow a boy, thought to be 9 or 10 years old, named rubin, survived this plane crash in libya, while 103 others on-board did not. most of the victims were dutch tourists, families on their way home from spring break in south africa. a new photo released this morning of what many are calling a miracle boy.

one look at what remains of afriquiyah air flight 771, so shattered a wreckage that only the tail is recognizable, makes this sight all the more remarkable. a boy, legs fractured, head bandaged, but alive. the sole survivor of the crash he was barely conscious when found and muttered "holland" when asked where he's from. he's since had surgery and a libyan doctor told dutch tv he's in stable condition and starting to talk. >> he could speak and he could say his name. >> and his name was? >> i think his name was robin or something. i don't know how you pronounce it. >> reporter: dutch officials believe he is rubin van asdel, 9 years old, who had been on an african safari with his family. >> there has been a tendency from what we found in these other accidents that the parents

have shielded the child, providing a higher level of protection. >> reporter: lone survivors, while rare, are not unknown. last summer a young girl was found clinging to the wreckage 13 hours after a plane went down in the water off the islands. this girl did survive a northwest airlines flight that crashed after take-off in michigan killing all the rest of the 154 people on-board, including her parents and brother. the afriquiyah air crash, an airbus a 330 happened on the runway in tripoli. libyan authorities have ruled out terrorism. as the sole survivor recovers, what have thought to be his aunt and uncle, are being searched for. dutch media is reporting a short time ago the aunt and uncle arrived in the hospital in

tripoli. when the boy saw them, he smiled. so what seems a happy reunion, in of course absolutely tragic circumstances. >> dawna, thank you. dawna friesen in london this morning. let's go back to new york. ann curry is standing by at news desk with all the other headlines of the day. ann, good morning to you. good morning to all of you. we begin with an update on the string of attacks on children in china. it turns out the man who attacked the kindergarten class wednesday was known to the children, according to officials. they say he lived near the school and saw the children daily. seven toddlers were killed in the brutal attack, some as young as 3 years old. one teacher was also killed and 11 other children are hospitalized. a school in houston, texas is under investigation after a video from a student's cell phone apparently showed a teacher beating a 13-year-old student. the teacher has since been fired. the boy suffered some bruises. in an effort to prevent another housing crisis, the senate voted wednesday to ban loan officers and mortgage

brokers from being paid more money when offering higher interest rates to borrowers. the senate also voted to require borrowers to prove they can repay their loans. some mixed news on the housing market this morning. a real estate tracking firm says the number of american homes facing foreclosure is down. more than 9% since march. but the same tracking firm also says the fastest growing group of people falling into foreclosure are homeowners with good credit who did not take out risky loans. wall street is hoping for another rally today. cnbc's erin burnett is at the new york stock exchange. what's the good news? >> so here's some good news actually for consumers. stocks are going to be a little more cautious out of the gate but we're back to where we were before that flash crash. companies are still competing to get consumers' loyalty in this slowdown. sprint/nextel will be offering cell phone service for 7 cents a minute, 30 cents cheaper than its nearest competitor. that's going to be at walmart. according to the "wall street journal," the probe into mortgage deals is expanding from

goldman sachs and morgan stanley to also include jpmorgan chase, citigroup, deutsche bank and ubs. back to you. >> erin burnett this morning, thanks. a wayward gray while hale h become entangled in fishing ropes. a team from seaworld removed 100 pounds of fishing net from the 20-ton female who was docile during her rescue and is now back swimming in the ocean. 7:15. back to meredith. >> i'm glad she's okay. now let's get a first c

>> we are looking at temperatures only in the low 40's -- or 40 some of it is right now. upper fifties and low 60's this afternoon. as for l >> and that's your latest weather. >> al, thank you. now to capitol hill and the debate over financial reform.

this morning as the senate wrestles with new legislation, some suggest those very lawmakers deserve some of the blame for the economic collapse. nbc's senior investigators correspondent lisa myers is in washington. lisa, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. congress has spent a lot of energy lately bashing wall street. but experts say that in assessing blame, congress also needs to look in the mirror, that its cozy relationship with wall street led to lax rules that enabled the meltdown to happen. the senate's investigation of what caused the financial meltdown has zeroed in on many things. >> you ought to have plenty of regrets. >> reporter: mortgage lenders gave liar loans that couldn't be repaid. federal regulators were asleep at the switch. credit rating agencies gave inflated ratings to investments that turned out to be junk. and investment banks like

goldman sachs made billions, feeding bad mortgages into the economy where they blew up. >> all of the fingers from those three days of hearings turn to wall street. >> reporter: but experts point fingers at another important culprit -- congress itself. >> i think congress deserves a lot of the blame for the meltdown. >> reporter: why? because experts say congress, when controlled by democrats and by republicans, created the conditions that allowed wall street to run wild. elizabeth warren chairs the panel named by congress to oversee the t.a.r.p. bailout. >> basically congress threw open the door to the financial services industry and they said, "have at it. have at the american family. sell them whatever you want to sell them. trick them however you want to trick them. trap them however you want to trap them." >> reporter: congress repealed banking safeguards in place since the great depression. declined to regulate some failed wall street practices and failed

to do anything even after peated warnings that families were being victimized by predator practices. and wall street banks and mortgage companies, in turn, funded congressional campaigns. providing more than $626 million in contributions over the last 20 years. 52% to democrats, 48% to republicans. and, in recent months, wall street has actually stepped up contributions to both parties. >> wall street, the big banks, still have a phenomenal power over congress. >> reporter: in fact, some experts argue that the financial reform bill now before the senate does not go nearly far enough to prevent another meltdown. hou however, senate majority leader harry reid says the bill provides the strongest protection ever against wall street greed. members of congress insist campaign contributions do not influence their decisions. >> of course. nbc's lisa myers, thank you very much. it is 7:19.

once again, here's matt. >> from capitol hill to wall street, whether you are referring to the economy or the classic film of 1987, there is no doubt that things are very different today than they were back then. so is oliver stone prepares to revisit with gordon gekko with the special screening of "wall street: money never sleeps" in cannes, we thought we'd look at the wall street landscape to see how he's changed both on and off the big screen. >> greed, for lack of a better word, is good. greed is right. greed works. >> reporter: that was then. 1987. michael douglas is gordon gekko, the epitome of wall street excess. >> just enough to block anybody else's merger plans and find out from the inside if the books are cooked. >> you're kidding me. you didn't trade it? >> reporter: while this is now, 22 years after the first "wall street" premiered, michael douglas is once again suiting up his gordon gekko.

in oliver stone's new movie wall street money never sleeps. >> a fisherman always seeing another fisherman from afar. i think you ought to start calling me gordon. >> gordon gekko became this sort of iconic figure in pop culture. he was kind of the emblem of everything that went wrong in wall street in the 1980s. watching the money again, you realize that it's not just about greedy people on wall street, it's about how that affected the entire country. >> reporter: today americans are still reeling from the effects of the worst economic crisis since the great depression. homes have been foreclosed. jobs have been lost, and a lot of people blame wall street. but have things really changed hasn't changed at all actually. there's been a explosion in individual investors, 100 million investors today. it's much more broad-based.

but on another level it hasn't changed at all because risk is being used in a big way and that is the same thing as 20 years ago. >> try telling the feds you didn't commit a felony. >> reporter: michael douglas as gordon gekko may have aged a bit but has his philosophy changed? the answer will be revealed on the big screen. in real life though, it turns out the more things change, the more they stay the same. >> there will always be gordon gekkos. there will always be the bad apples, people who want to push the envelope and think they're smarter than the system, and that remains today. >> still to come here in cannes, the cast of "wall street: money never sleeps," michael suggest glass, shia la beouf, karen mulligan, josh brolin. who am i leaving out? and the director -- oliver stone will all join us live. but first, this is "today" on nbc.

still ahead, meredith vieira, larger than life here in cannes. i'll explain. plus, anna nicole smith's daughter, dannielynn, is here with her dad, larry birkhead, after your local news.

>> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. some problems on the roadways. here is sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> let's get you up-to-date on the accidents we have been monitoring. 3 left lanes still closed here. there is a multi-vehicle crash here taking a long time. those delays stretch back to the town of chester. only the right lane at squeezing by. another problem spot this southbound harrisburg expressway.

here we have an accident clearing from the shoulder. it will be awhile before these delays pelter out. take york road as your alternate but watch for it delays there as well. this delay stretches back towards approaching i-95. old eastern and essex, accident location to avoid. delays in the west side. nothing compared to what we're seeing on the northeast corner. we'll show you drive times. 22 minutes on the outer loop northeast side. not bad on the west side. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> we are off to a fairly quiet start, weather-wise. winds have shifted to the northeast. that is about it. temperatures in the upper 40's and 50's. 52 at the airport. we will struggle to get out of these today. i did this afternoon will only be in the upper 50s the low 60s.

well below the mark. just a chance for a little light rain or drizzle during the day. transfer rate was up tonight. tomorrow, scattered thunderstorms. it will be a lot warmer, with a high temperature near 80 degrees. we still think it will be a dry weekend. sunshine on sunday. >> be sure to check the bottom of your screen for updated news and traffic information. back in 25 minutes with another live update.

7:30 now on a thursday morning. it is also the 13th day of may, 0 2010. you're looking at the spectacular sight of cannes, france. the premier of "robin hood" last night was a star-studded event. more than 1,600 films vying for considering at this year's festival. 167 were actually entered. i'm matt lauer in cannes. coming up, we'll have the stars of another hotly anticipated movie, a blockbuster in the making, this one is "wall street: money never sleeps." the stars, michael douglas, shia la beouf, karen mulligan, josh brolin, the director, oliver stone will all join us live in just a couple of minutes.

meanwhile, meredith is back in new york. what else is happening? >> matt, also ahead from new york, it has been three years since the tragic death of anna nicole smith. now some of her personal items are going up for auction to benefit the daughter that she left behind. this morning, 3-year-old dannielynn is here. she's sleeping. along with her father, larry birkhead. we'll catch up with them and check out some of the items from that auction just ahead. she was out last night seeing mary poppins so she's a little tired this morning. we begin this half-hour with a new effort by casey anthony's legal team to block the possibility that she will face the death penalty in found guilty of murdering her 2-year-old daughter caylee. nbc's kerry sanders is in orlando with details. kerry, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, meredith. casey anthony's legal defense team has come to court here this week throwing just about every argument at the new judge to take the death penalty off the table. it's an emotional high-stakes debate, but the new judge says he sees no legal reason to stop

prosecutors from asking for the ultimate penalty -- execution. tears, and more tears from casey anthony. as her mother cindy sits anxiously in the courtroom. >> how do they intend to prove that? >> reporter: together, hoping they could get the death penalty dropped from the case. >> why it is that they are saying that they can show this premeditated homicide, when their own medical examiner cannot determine a cause of death. >> reporter: caylee's official cause of death is homicide by undetermined means. a rare conclusion by the medical examiner who had limited forensics to work with. that's because caylee's skeletal remains, pieces of duct tape, and clothing, were found in the woods near her home six months after she disappeared. while casey says she's innocent, that her daughter was abducted, prosecutors have said before in graphic detail how they believe

casey looked down on her daughter as she smothered her to death with duct tape stretched across her tiny mouth. maybe her killer even saw her eyes as the tape was applied, prosecutor jeff ashton said. first one piece, then two, then three. so that no breath was possible. the new judge in the case -- has established a fast-paced agenda. but what about those snapshots the defense wants eliminated as evidence? pictures of casey anthony out on the town. some taken long before, but others snapped during the 31-day period when casey failed to tell anyone her daughter was missing. >> these statements are nothing short of outrageous. to assume that a person is a bad person because they go to a nightclub. >> reporter: prosecutors say the photos are relevant and important to a jury. >> exactly what her activities were during the specific time frame. >> reporter: women rarely face

the death penalty. only two women have ever been executed in florida. >> if the prosecution can prove that a mother intentionally murdered her own child in order to pursue a wild social life, and this is indeed a death penalty case. >> reporter: defense experts say those pictures will taint a jury into believing casey's a bad mom, so she must be guilty. >> if we're talking about a woman defendant, and if that woman defendant was deviant, she's likely to get tagged for it and be very difficult to defend successfully. >> reporter: they even played this videotape for the judge to show the circus-like atmosphere surrounding the case. >> i believe that the mother is guilty! >> reporter: the judge says finding a fair jury in orlando is unlikely. his plan, pick jurors in another florida city and bring them to orlando for what could be a two-month-long trial. the judge did decide that

prosecutors must explain in writing why they're pursuing a death penalty case, and that essentially will provide a road map to the defense as to how and why they believe that casey anthony allegedly killed her daughter, caylee. meredith? >> kerry sanders, thank you. dan abrams is nbc's chief legal analyst. good morning. let's talk about the onus that's on the prosecution right now. what do you need to convict someone in a death penalty case in florida? >> you need proof beyond a reasonable doubt, first of all. but in order to get the death penalty, you have to have aggravating circumstances. aggravating factors. that's what the defense is waiting for. they're saying, what are those aggravating factors in this case? in this case, expect them to be premeditation, the cruel and heinous nature of the crime, the age of the victim and the fact that it was her daughter, and now the fact that she's also a convicted felon because she was convicted recently, pled guilty in connection with putting forward false checks. >> when the defense, though, argued unsuccessfully to try to

get this death penalty off the table, one of the things they said was, how can this be premeditation when in fact the medical examiner has never indicated the cause of death. we don't know the cause of death. >> that's an argument for the jury, in effect. what the defense is trying to do, they're trying to say, look, as a legal matter, we want the death penalty off the table. very tough argument for the defense. in every case. because the burden is on the defense to be able to prove that there had been improper motives on the part of the prosecution, that there's no legal basis at all for this. very, very hard and not surprising that this judge has said that they can move forward. but this is just the very first step. >> did the defense have a point when they said they tried to argue there is an inherent bias against women who are aaccused of violent crimes, particularly accused of killing their children? >> whether they have a legitimate argument sort of broadly as a societal matter, maybe. as a legal matter, it is not a strong argument, meaning this would then suggest that almost any woman accused of killing her

child shouldn't face the death penalty because there is this supposed bias. so i think this argument was a non-starter from the beginning. >> so it is not a case where women tend to be in that position more than men, because of their gender. >> i think what they were saying, in effect, was it is not going to be fair, that a jury won't be able to fairly evaluate the evidence because she's a woman, because she's a mother, because these pictures are going to come up, et cetera. that's an argument that they can try to make at a later date. it is not an argument that i think had any weight at this point. >> finally, it was the defense that wanted a new judge brought into this case and they have one now in this belvin perry. is that a win for the defense? >> be careful for what you ask for. they asked to disqualify the previous judge saying that he had some sort of connection to a blogger who had strong feelings about the case. they got that judge removed. now they've got a judge who may be even tougher on them than the previous judge. so you always have to be careful when you're seeking to dismiss a

judge in a case, because you never know what you're going to get. >> dan abrams, thank you. now let's head out to los angeles for a check of the weather from al. >> all right, thanks a lot, meredith. we've got again some weekend weather to take a look at, but we'll show you also temperaturewise, the jet stream right now is dipping way down into the south, here out west. that lets that mild, drier air in here. however, the storm track brings it right across the midwest. that means stronger storms for the next 24 hours. as we head on toward the weekend, you'll see things look a little bit better for the south where we're looking at sunny skies, warm conditions, but more heavy rain >> we are off to a cloudy start, and a little bit of drizzle from time to time, but not a steady rain by any means. unseasonably c

>> don't forget to check your weather any time of the day or night by going to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. meredith? >> al, thank you very much. up next, how anna nicole smith's daughter is doing three years after her mom's death. we're going to meet her and talk to her dad, larry birkhead, just after this. wake up! p! one that's backed by a 100,000 mile powertrain warranty. and named a consumers digest best buy, two years in a row. discover malibu for yourself and see why over a thousand people a day are switching to chevy. during the spring event, qualified lessees now get a 27-month, low mileage lease on this malibu ls for around $199 a month. call for details. the switch to chevy starts at chevy dealer dot com. vegetables are naturally low in calories.

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a necklace or a belt that's a conversation starter. a show stopper! i guess some women are destined to wear chico's. ♪ chicka boom boom boom, yeah, yeah ♪ what life is like now for anna nicole smith's daughter, danny loin. she is here, along with her father, larry birkhead. we'll talk to them in a moment, but first, here's nbc's natalie morales. >> dannielynn was just five months old when her mother died setting off a heated custody battle. now more than three years later she is a happy toddler and her father is making plans for her

future. at just 3 1/2 years old, dannielynn birkhead has been in the spotlight her entire life. the daughter of the late "playboy" model anna nicole smith, dannielynn was born into life exposed to drugs, death and legal battles that continue to this day. in 2007, anna nicole smith died from an accidental drug overdose, just days after her giving birth to dannielynn. anna nicole's lawyer, howard k. stern, took the fight for custody of dannielynn to court and lost. >> when you compare dannielynn's life to a few years ago when her mother just died, there was this huge fight over the paternity and there is a big question of who the father was, you look at her life now, there is a lot of stability, a very strong father in larry and life seems to be pretty good for dannielynn right now. >> reporter: but in march, a federal court ruled anna nicole's estate is not entitled to $88 million left by smith's late husband, billionaire oil magnet j. howard marshall.

>> the ruling essentially meant that dannielynn, who is the sole heir to anna nicole smith's estate would not get any money. we're talking a lot of money. >> reporter: now in an effort to raise money to support her, dannielynn's father, larry birkhead, is set to sell off some of the ex-model's memorabilia at an upcoming auction in las vegas. but the glare of the spotlight may return to dannielynn later this summer when stern, her mother's former attorney and two of the doctors who treated her, go on trial for charges of illegally supplying smith with the prescription drugs that killed her. >> this is going to be very dramatic and it is going to put anna nicole smith right back in the headlines. >> by the way, that trial is set to begin on august 4th in los angeles. meredith? >> natalie, thank you very much. larry birkhead is here along with his sleepy daughter, dannielynn. good morning to you. we mentioned before you were out last night seeing "mary poppins." she obviously had a good time and is sleeping in this morning. it's been over three years since anna nicole was found in that

hotel in florida. you gained custody of dannielynn after a rather drawn out custody battle with her attorney, howard k. stern, sort of thrown into this role of being a single dad. what's this been like for you? >> it's been a wild ride but i'm settled and there's always drama, always headlines, there's always things that pop up, anna nicole and keeps the memory kind of fresh. it is kind of hard to move on. but we're happy and she's happy baby and -- tired but happy. we're moving ahead. >> what is day to day life like for you guys? >> she's like any other kid. except there is a lot of attention on her and we try to do the play dates like any other family. sometimes it is difficult, people pop cameras up and do things. but we have a house that i just finishing in kentucky. she'll start preschool soon. hopefully have a quiet life and as normal as she can. just be happy. >> she's going to start

preschool soon which means she's going to start asking a lot of questions, if she hasn't already about her mom, where her mom is, what's happened. what have you told her about her mom? >> originally you try to be as child-friendly as you can. first i started with mommy's in the clouds, now we'll graduate to mommy's in heaven. she has these play dates where she sees other kids with moms, she sees cartoon characters with their mothers. she's curious. right now we just keep it as friendly as we can and i think down the road, with her starting school it is going to be a little more difficult. i think that's what i'll turn to some expert help to help me. i've never been in a situation obviously like this, of this magnitude. i just do the best i can with the knowledge i have and with support from friends and family. they try and help me. >> i was going to say, because anna nicole's life was at times extremely complicated and very troubled. those are things that are documented, that she at some point is going to see it or wonder about it, someone will say something to her.

>> luckily she's not googling yet. she's just still a kid. there will be the time when she'll learn things about her mom. but, again, they're not all bad things. her mom was a great individual and she was -- she did a lot of things for charity. she was happy, she loved kids. even though she met a tragic death, she loved life and there were many things that -- happy things that i can tell her about her mom. >> over the course of the past three years, larry, you've been criticized from time to time for being on the cover of a lot of magazines, being on a lot of entertainment shows. especially in the beginning we saw a lot of you with your daughter. do you think you were unfairly criticized? do you understand where that came from? >> well, i guess everybody's going to be criticized for something. i don't think that -- think there was such a soap opera and there were so many people that were rooting for one person or another and there was a ton of interest. so to me, i tried to find a balance of allowing people's

curiosity to be met, but also at the same time shielding her. i think i've done a great job. i don't see her nearly as much as you do other celebrity children. she's rarely anymore seen and that's one of the reasons why we traveled back to kentucky and kind of the safe haven where you don't have all of that. but, you know, i just realize you're going to get criticized for something at all times. i just do the best job i can do as a father. >> you also traveled to l.a. a lot because you're still dealing with the estate on a constant basis. that means you're dealing with howard k. stern who is the executor. now he is going to go to trial for -- accused of supplying the drugs that killed anna nicole. do you feel he should continue to be executor? is there anything you can do about that? >> well, at this point, the estate's moving along as needed, and at some point if there's any reason why he shouldn't be or -- you know, i think that he's been charged in the media as being guilty already. he think he and the doctors have their day in court.

if it leads to something else other than not guilty, then i think at that time we have to address it. at this time we have a working relationship where he has been -- we had the paternity struggle, but then on the estate level and business, he actually has become a friend and at this time -- i don't think that he had anything to do with anna nicole's death. obviously. but -- >> you don't. >> i don't. i think some of his interests in her might have clouded some of his judgment as far as the paternity battle being resolved and that whole issue. but i think as far as if anyone were to ever tell me he'd harm anna or daniel, that would be crazy. that basically was their life. and still is to this day, he's still working for the estate, still doing things. there is a lot of things in the headlines about the judgment and they're continuing that whole fight on to the supreme court as far as i know. >> you're standing by him, at least for the time being. >> well, you know, i've been a

witness. i've cooperated with the authorities and i've told them everything that i know. their attempts to try to build a time line. if that were to lead to something down the road, then i'm open-minded as far as that goes. but at this point, i've seen nothing to the contrary that he would do anything to harm them. >> when we come back, we'll show you some of the items you're auctioning off of anna nicole's to go to dannielynn for her future. back after these messages. er these messages. homes for those in need? or, maybe you want to help improve our schools? whatever you want to do, members project from american express can help you take the first step. vote, volunteer or donate for the causes you believe in at membersproject.com. take charge of making a difference. have you tried honey bunches of oats with real strawberries? wow. it's seriously strawberry.

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still to come here from cannes, a very impressive group assembled on this couch. the cast of "wall street: money never sleeps." josh brolin, this guy here, michael douglas. bedlam on the couch in just a couple of minutes. but first, these messages and your local news. 100% fruit & veggie juice with no added sugar. just one glass equals two servings of fruits and vegetables. it's the fruit you love mixed with the veggies you need.

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>> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. here is sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> we are still dealing with a very heavy right on westbound 150 prior to the bay bridge. multi-vehicle crash, 3 left lanes closed in the westbound direction. you can see the impact it is having on traffic, a complete standstill. that stretches all the way back to a tiny creek road. we're looking at delays will agree on the southbound harrisburg expressway bridge from york road down to mount carmel. at least things are improving. the accident has been cleared approaching mount carmel. 24 on the north side.

you can see that those delays are dissipating just a bit. we had an accident on the outer loop of perring parkway but that is clear. a bit of a backup on southbound 795 out of the owings mills area. on the end of the pending towards the j.f.x. from greenspring. it is going to take a 15 minutes to travel on the outer loop west side. 12 minutes on inner loop from 75 to the j.f.x. town has a check on the forecast. >> we are off to a fairly quiet start. winds shifting to the northeast today. it little bit of drizzle in some spots. but not steady rain in any means. 52 at the airport. it is not going to move much today. upper 50s and 60s for high temperatures this afternoon. mostly cloudy, with a chance for a little bit of light rain or drizzle. chance for it showers and thunderstorms will go up to nine. tomorrow, scattered

thunderstorms are possible. much warmer, with a high near 80. >> you can check the bottom of your screen for updated news and traffic information. we're back

morning, may 13th here in the united states. picture-perfect afternoon in the south of france where some of the biggest stars in the world have flocked for the cannes film festival. a number of them are actually with matt live. that is the gang from "wall street: money never sleeps" which premiers at the festival tomorrow night. outside on the plaza here in new york, i'm meredith vieira, along with a lot of our buddies right here. matt! matt, take a look at this. "we love matt all the way from california." unfortunately, matt's not here. he's over in cannes. hey, matt. they're missing you. >> meredith, thanks very much. i'm doing good here. it's been a lot of fun. people have waited 22 years for the return of gordon gekko.

they aren't going to have to wait much longer. oliver stone will premier "wall street: money never sleeps" right here at the cannes film festival in just a couple of days. then it comes out for the public in september. we've got the cast and the director on the couch here. we'll be talking to them in just a couple of minutes. but, there is another star, meredith, casting a huge shadow here in cannes. take a look at what i discovered walking the streets here. meredith, you seemed a little jealous about the fact i was in cannes and you were back home. what people don't know is that you recently went to london -- movie star -- and you shot a part for the upcoming movie "gull ver's travels" starring jack black. imagine our surprise walking here in cannes when we see a huge billboard for "gulliver's travels" and jack black that features you prominently. here's the billboard right in front of our hotel. who is that right there with the parted red hair? that is our own meredith vieira.

ruling cannes! >> oh, you think you're so funny. that was not me. >> congratulations. that's big. >> my role is a little bit bigger than that, mr. lauer. not much bigger. >> the way you held that rope, meredith -- >> yeah, i'd like to use that rope on you right now, but that's a whole nother matter. cut away from that! just ahead from new york, larry birkhead will be back to show us some of the rare anna nicole smith items that are going up for auction, everything from a fancy dog bed to a portrait of her ex-husband, to this. this here is part of her artwork. first, kathie lee and hoda are here to reveal their true selves because they are here to reveal today is a no-makeup day. come on, girls, put the papers down. are you mice or are you women? put the papers down.

come on! put the papers down, give us a look. you're not even going to talk? you noah, matt? let me tell you, they may not be willing to show their faces right now but i participated in this earlier. they took a shot of me without my makeup. i'm a little embarrassed but i'm going to reveal it. what the heck. take a look. i know i don't look as good! because i don't have my makeup on. but -- >> you know, i have to live with that image every morning when you walk in. it's tough. >> i know. you poor thing, you. let's throw it over to ann at the news desk who i'm not sure if she has her makeup on or not. she's so beautiful, you never know. >> thanks for that. we'll show our bare faces later. let's talk about the news. we're finally getting an up-close look at oil gushing into the gulf of mexico and we're learning more about the human errors that may have helped cause the environmental

catastrophe. new images show oil and natural gas are spewing from the well 40 miles off the coast of louisiana and congressional investigators said on wednesday a device that failed to seal the damaged well was broken and had a dead battery. doctors say the dutch boy who is the sole survivor of wednesday's jetliner crash in labor ya is in satisfactory condition after surgery to repair his fractured legs. the boy's aunt and uncle arrived in libya to see him today and he said -- they said that he smiled at them. his parents and brother were among the 103 people who perished in the crash. president obama holds a town hall meeting on the economy today in buffalo, new york, a city hard hit by job losses. he will visit a small metal works plant and urge congress to act quickly on its proposal to help small businesses expand and hire more workers. meantime, revealing new numbers in the latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll which shows 69% of americans like the president personally but only 51% approve of his policies. on that controversial

immigration law in arizona, a majority of americans, 64%, support the measure, while 34% oppose, and at the same time, 70% of hispanics oppose the law. supreme court nominee elena kagan returns to capitol hill today meeting with senators who will vote on her confirmation. among them, democrat arlen specter who voted against kagan for her current job as solicitor general. on wednesday, kagan responded to some republican concerns about the potential political bias by insisting she would be faithful to the law. now here's brian williams with what's coming up tonight on "nbc nightly news." >> hey, ann, thanks. tonight, the warrior games. for the first time, a sports competition for wounded servicemen and women. how these games boost morale and change lives. how they're making a difference. that is tonight on "nightly news." ann, for now, back to you. >> brian, thanks so much. it is now 8:05. let's go out to los angeles and get a check of the weather from al. >> all right, thanks, ann. as we look at our pick city of

the day, we are proud to salute our friends in kansas city, missouri. action news kshb-tv. showers and storms and 62 degrees. rest of the country, strong storms firing up from texas on into oklahoma, missouri. the line extends all the way up into michigan. it is going to cause problems today, slight risk of strong storms up through that area. we've got flood watches up there as well. we're also looking at sunshine in the pacific northwest all the way down into southern california. 73 today in los angeles. southeast looks beautiful. 87 in new orleans. 84 in tallahassee. look for showers and >> we are off to a cloudy start, and a little bit of drizzle from time to time, but not a steady

rain by any means. unseasonably coosay, you are rocking the no-socks look. i love it! >> frank langella has the no-socks working also. we'll talk about that in a second as we catch up with the cast and director of "wall street: money never sleeps." live from cannes. but first, these messages.. what do you guys want to do? both: make rice krispie® treats! how many cups is it? six. oh, that's not six yet. whoa. where's the pan? both: over there. ( laughter ) push it down. push it down. thank you for helping. it's amazing what you can make out of a rainy day.

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22 years ago, oliver stone introduced us to the classic character gordon gekko in the film "wall street." now gordon gekko is back, and 22 years after introducing us to the phrase "greed is good," how does he feel about greed now? a special screening of "wall street: money never sleeps" happens here in cannes in the next few days. we're thrilled to have the cast and director with us. guys, ladies, nice to have you

all here. thank you for letting us shoot this in your hotel suite. this is really, preelly nice. >> by the way, nice socks, matt. >> thank you very much. frank as well. >> we're the only guys without socks. >> oliver, start with you. 22 years ago -- >> don't start with me. >> let's do it. none of you may get a word in after this. 22 years ago, it was a huge hit, the movie. but some say you felt maybe you missed your mark with the message. instead of casting a light on the greed of wall street, it served in some ways as a recruiting film for young people who wanted to emulate this guy right here. so making this movie, did you approach it differently? >> no. frankly, we took another -- yeah, we did. michael douglas is broke in the movie. he comes out of jail broke. so he has to work his way back up into the system. he uses shia who is a young trader with integrity to get there. shia is engaged to his daughter, carey mulligan. >> gordon gekko's daughter.

didn't tell the ending! >> it is a different ball game because he has to get back inside. how he does it is very interesting. >> the movie starts with your character getting out of prison. what has he learned in eight years behind bars? about the financial system. >> oh. >> this is a morning show! >> i mean, first of all, you can't make message movies. all right? the first one worked because it was dramatic and it was also about characters. but what blew my mind about this one is how much the personal relationships, the familial relationships work. carey plays my daughter, shia is her boyfriend. frank is sort of the good aspects of wall street. josh, not so good aspects. >> seemed to me in the first movie you had to create a villain and you created him.

now the villain has hmm been created for you in this movie based on what we see in the headlines every day and what we see sitting testifying before senate committees. did that make it easier you think for everyone? >> no, that's the framework. we had to create a story, narrative with five actors playing very complex parts and they're all interacting with each other. basically on this couch portrays everybody else at one point or another in the movie. >> we're about to portray each other right now. >> i don't think frank is so good a guy. actually he's playing a guy who's like the lehman brothers guy. >> you're the guy who created the system, then was devoured by the system. >> i don't think my character is that of a bitch -- can i say that? >> you just did. >> josh is not all bad. >> josh is all bad. >> carey, your character introduces us to the family side

of gordon, a side we haven't seen. you're in some ways the conscience of this movie -- you also, probably, shia -- how did you feel about going to this subject matter? would you have any trepidations about it? >> no. i mean it was sort of boring. of course i saw it. no, i felt like it was just a different story. we were revisiting a really amazing character. i was excited to be in the family. >> you said you hung out with some traders getting ready for this. and this is a wild group. >> yeah. i felt heavy pressure walking into this. this cast is pretty heavy. you know? a bunch of heavy-hitters. i remember coming in a room -- not fat! >> i've lost 30 pounds. >> you know what i mean. for me, it's big. kind of like the all-star team. the only way i could feel comfortable in the room was to know more than anybody else.

i tried. i tried. i don't know if i did, but i tried. >> he started trading himself with some guys. he did very well, thank you very much. >> didn't you have a trading company also? >> i did. i did. and we failed miserably. no, we did okay. even after september '08. we never went for the big win, we got the little jumps. they then i started working more and i didn't need it. >> ask shia how much he made. >> people were trading at the same time, so we would send each other our makes and losses. then we would talk about it on the set all the time. it was always coming up. oliver was always on me because i didn't really read the -- >> it's something new. >> i wasn't reading the "wall street journal" often. >> you were hanging out with the big hitters. >> yeah, we had a couple guys

like john thomas financial, guys that were working there. >> schottenheimer. >> those guys, like while i was training with them, i wound up going inside to insider trading when i was with them. >> we're thinking we're going to promote this movie now, when it comes out in september there will be a lot of promotion for it. but in some ways isn't the promotion going to happen in the newspaper every day? that's really what's going to promote this movie based on what's happening in real life. >> if we'd come out last week, we have a company that shorts the market like goldman did. but we're not making a news picture. we want to make a movie that's going to last through time way beyond this crisis. >> how big is just this moment? >> people. human beings. people are just human beings, not interested in stock market crisis. this is a crisis, yes. major heart attack, yes. but these people take you to another realm beyond. it's drama. >> i was knocked out on the relationships -- sorry.

no, i'm sorry, frank. >> i said in the commercial break, don't be afraid to jump in on each other. >> you said don't be afraid to jump on each other. >> josh brolin, frank langella, oliver stone, shia la beouf, michael douglas, thank you. back with much more from cannes, new york after these messages. get our hands a little busier. our dollars a little stronger. and our thinking a little greener. let's grab all the bags and all the plants and all the latest tools out there. so we can turn all these savings into more colorful shades of doing. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. we've made a special buy on bonnie vegetable and herb plants for just $2.98 each. toi switched to a complete0, multivitamin with more.

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i'm catching the smell of strawberries. the smell of strawberries? (announcer) smucker's captures the goodness of fruit in every jar- even the flavorful aroma. we are back at 8:22 with some of anna nicole smith's personal items set to be auctioned off three years after her tragic death to benefit, both charity and her daughter, danniely dannielynn. dannielynn's father, larry birkhead is back, along with julian from julian's auction house. good morning, again. you had to go through, larry, so many storage units full of stuff because anna nicole didn't like to get rid everything. >> no. it was quite a job. >> you also decided what to save for your daughter. were their certain items i want this for dannielynn when she gets bigger? >> obviously jewelry.

every girl likes jewelry. anything special that could tell a story that i could tell. every single outfit could tell a story about anna nicole because of the way she lived life. fortunately, i am able to share some of these with her fans. >> she lived a very eccentric life but she sort of is off the radar to some extent. you think this is going to do well? >> absolutely. since we announced the auction we've had huge interest all over the world. there is a fascination with anna nicole smith. she has a huge fan base all over the world. >> begin with this outfit worn at a halloween party. >> yes. in 2004. and it is a great piece. comes with the hat and great photographs of anna wearing it. >> i'm glad you didn't save this for dannielynn. tell us the story behind this. this is from a christmas show that she did. >> this is from "anna nicole smith's holiday special." kathy griffin was comedian.

it was a wild time, popular with the fans. >> you think people who know anna nicole smith and loved her will remember this dress because they're the type of people who would have watched this had special. >> exactly. >> moving on, this is a fur coat. she ended up teaming with peta and they asked her to get rid of this coat. >> once she had a conversation with them where she promised not to wear them. she told me this came from her husband, the late howard marshall. so she agreed not to wear it but she said that they kind of came to an agreement she'd keep it in the closet for another day. so here it is. >> thought it was time to auction it off. now this outfit is significant because of where she wore it. >> she wore this on a trip to graceland. we went together down to tour the house. she was photographed outside the gates of graceland looking at the exhibit. she was an elvis fan as well as a big marilyn fan.

>> that will do very well. >> i can understand the coat or that dress, but this is just a plain outfit she wore -- >> it is when she went to see another celebrity's estate and also, you know, i mean anything associated with anna nicole smith is -- there is a lot of interest in it. it was a piece that will do well just because it was hers. >> i didn't realize she was an artist. she loved to paint. this is one of her works right here. >> it is. it's a dazed and confused power puff girl. >> she probably felt like that a lot of her life. >> you see the red eyes. a little bit of humor there. >> but, yeah. she loved to paint and this just kind of was one of the main paintings she did throughout her life. >> what do you expect something like this to go for? >> we estimate around $4,600. $1,600 on the paintings. >> this hung over your bed? >> this oung over anna nicole's master bedroom. >> this was her doggy's bed.

>> sugar pie's bed. the auction is on august >> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. let's get a final check on the morning commute. >> it has been a busy morning rush. we have a few problems but most of them have been cleared since earlier. fire department activity we are learning about. we're definitely seeing improvement. 51 miles per hour. 20 miles per hour on the northeast corner. middle river and pulaski park drive, an accident at middle river bridge -- at middle river. looking a lot better, as i said, on the outer loop north

and west side. we're looking good on the west side at perring parkway. heavy delays on westbound 50. approaching route 8, the accident has been cleared. right at the kent narrows bridge, we're looking at heavy, jammed packed right. it will take a long time for that to filter out. >> at least the weather is nice and quiet. there is a little bit of drizzle, but nothing significant. it will be a cool day today. temperatures right now in the upper 40's and low 50s. it will not move much. we may sneak into the upper fifties and low 60's this afternoon. mostly cloudy is our forecast. a chance for a little bit of light rain shower or drizzle activity. the chance for rain will go up to nine, though. during the day tomorrow, there could be strong thunderstorms. high temperatures near 80 degrees on friday. still think is going to be a dry weekend.

high near 73. >> we will have another update at 8:55.

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[sigh] ah... the efficient life is the good life. 8:30 now on a thursday morning, the 13th day of may, 2010. as you can see, a lot of sunshine, it seems, there in the northeast, in new york city, rockefeller plaza. nice crowd of people gathered on this thursday morning. we expect an even bigger crowd tomorrow morning when our summer concert series gets under way with the one and only sting, live on the plaza. that's going to be a hot ticket, if you're in the new york area, come down early, get a spot.

that's on the 8:30 half-hour tomorrow morning. meredith and ann are out on the plaza this morning. save me a space for that. i'm going to try to jump on a plane here in a couple of minutes and make it back for that. >> we hope you do. it will be very exciting. this young lady is named katie. you remember the other katie. university of arkansas, just read this. okay? >> and, matt -- and matt, i hear you had quite a morning there in cannes. matt? >> wow. you're the future, katie. there's no question about that. i did, katie, meredith and ann. got to take part in a fun event a couple of hours ago, the ribbon cutting for the american pavilion here at the cannes film festiv festival. that was the u.s. ambassador to france and monaco. the american pavilion where all things american happen here in cannes. group discussions on films,

things like that. it was a lot of fun. just part of the hobnobbing that goes on here in cannes, ladies. >> my goodness. go ahead. >> we're going to have more coming up, including a look at some of the wealth that gathers here especially during the 12 days of the festival. >> don't get used to it, because you're coming home. >> i know. >> also from here in new york, top chef host padma lakshmi is here. >> she's such a wonderful woman. this will be a different side of padma. but first let's get a check of the weather from al. >> thanks a lot, guys. let's look ahead to the weekend. first for saturday, we're expecting sunshine in the northeast. looking pretty good. we do have wet weather working its way down through the south,

heavy rain down through texas. sunny and hot in the southwest, clouds in the pacific northwest. moving ahead to sunday -- sunday -- looking at more showers and thunderstorms through the lower mississippi river valley, into the gulf. sunny and mild in the northeast. beautiful through the great lakes. the heat continues in the southwest. >> we are off to a cloudy start, and a little bit of drizzle from time to time, but not a steady rain by any means. unseasonably c >> don't forget, any time you want your weather, day or night, go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online.

now let's head down to ft. meyers, florida and say hello to uncle willard scott. >> how good it is to be in florida. i miss new york, don't get me wrong. but here is lovely. happy birthday from smucker's to all of our birthday buddies in tv land. as the jar spins, alfred robbins, coral springs, florida. 100 years old, retired electrical engineer. looking forward to celebrating his 100th birthday with 60 of his old buddies and family. i don't know 60 people now. look at charlotte rubin. beverly hills, california. always nice. 101. second time she's tried to get on the show. i'm glad our crew was alert and got her there. she sat on teddy roosevelt's lap when she was just a child. isn't that funny she remembers that? happy birthday to you. take a look, if you will please, columbus smith, clarksville,

pennsylvania. marched in president hooverer's inaugural parade in the '20s. enjoys planting in his vegetable garden and also playing in his vegetable garden and learning all about crops. a good little farmer. sophia brown, billings, montana, you have near big sky. 100 years old today. works at an airport today in the kiosk information booth and volunteers at noon with all sorts of organizations like meals on wheels. that's good, service to others. and we have tinh nguyen. centervil centerville, virginia. 100 years old today. reunited with his children after the vietnam war and claims the love that he has for his family has kept him going forever. good. katherine justice of bal

harboru, florida. 100 years old. plays jazz all of her life and loves it. played in a new york theater. that's it from your favorite birthday boy. back to new york. coming up next, padma lakshmi opens up about a very difficult illness, a painful condition that took years to diagnose. but first, this is "toda

this morning on "today's health," end meet yo sis, it is a painful condition that affects 1 in 10 american women but does not get a lot of attention. among them, padma lakshmi. we'll talk to her in a moment, but first here's nbc's chief medical editor, dr. nancy snyderman. >> it is a very private subject, and it's an illness that affects the most intimate part of a

woman. >> reporter: for 23 years, 39-year-old padma lakshmi waged a very private battle. >> i was diagnosed very late. >> reporter: the model, actress and reality show host suffered from painful debilitating periods. >> a lot of us are told to just grin and bear it or that it's our lot in life to suffer through pain. but pain is really your body's way of telling you that something's wrong. >> reporter: something was wrong, and padma was determined to find answers. she saw countless doctors until finally a diagnosis. >> i had stage 4 endometriosis which was unchecked until i was 36 years old. >> reporter: it affects 90 million women worldwide and occurs when menstruation flow backs up through the fallopian tubes and spills into the abdominal cavity. >> i'm a college-educated woman. i live in america, in a big metropolitan city. i had access to all the best

doctors, members of my family who were in the medical profession. yet i had never heard the word endoimmediate yo sis. >> reporter: there is no known cure for this painful disease that often goes undetected for years. for padma, that diagnosis brought emotional pain as well. endometriosis is the leading cause of infertility among woman. >> i always want the choice about motherhood. you don't want it to be made for you. >> i first started suffering from endometriosis when i was a teenager. >> i thought it was important to speak up so other women didn't have to go through what i went through. >> life is not supposed to be filled with pain just because you're woman. >> reporter: after five surgeries, years of treatment and being told she would never have a child naturally -- the unexpected happened. padma beat the odds and in february gave birth to a healthy baby girl. >> i can't believe that she's in my life. i remember being in the delivery

room right before she came and i remember just tears coming down my eyes and saying, thank you. thank you so much for giving me my daughter. >> padma lakshmi and dr. nancy snyderman, good morning. first of all, congratulations. your baby is beautiful. how is she doing? >> she's great. she's healthy, happy, hungry. fantastic. thank you. >> i'm sure in your life somewhat of a miracle. >> yeah, it's funny because last year when we were getting the foundation together, the e endometriosis foundation of america, it happened, because i had to many surgeries, i wanted to make sure i could insure my own ability to be a mom. and i knew i had had all these surgeries and i knew that endometriosis is one of the leading causes of infertility. and like me, many women defer being a mother until their late 30s or early 40s. so in the process of

investigating my own options, i was told by a doctor that i wouldn't have children naturally, but i would only be able to have children, 15% to 20% chance of having children with in-vitro. i think it galvanized me to start the foundation with my doctor. i didn't want young girls to have to suffer like i did for a decade and a half. if i had been diagnosed in my early 20s rather than in my mid-30s, i would have had a much different life. >> 1 in every 10 women have it, why is it so hard to diagnose? >> what happens when we're teenagers. we talk about our periods, we're cramping, we don't feel good. it becomes the societal norm. unless you have extremely irregular periods, a lot of cramping and sort of outside that normal 40-yard line area, doctors don't think about it and women don't know about it. then when it is time to get pregnant, it's like, i can't get

pregnant. then it becomes part of the normal infertility worko-up. you may not have all of these. some women don't have any of them. but irregular periods, heavy bleeding, a lot of cramping. >> back aches. >> back aches. >> weirder pain than just sort of the normal cranky. if you feel like you're sort of out of your body when you are a having your period, huge hormonal fluctuations. some women, like padma, you found out, i thought this was going to be the easy part. >> i have been blessed with this beautiful daughter. sort of good karma from starting the foundation and i'm so thankful. >> is it treatable then? >> well, it is treatable. look. i thit use the word preventible because that word "preventable" in the truest sense because it is really just bits and pieces of the uterine lining going up retrograde and not coming out of

one's body. birth control pills are a terrific way to sort of regulate periods, and a lot of times doctors put women on birth control pills as sort of a first line of defense. but in a lot of case it ends up being surgery after the past. >> you had tissue removed. >> yeah. i had several surgeries and had it taken out. you should be checked for -- >> intervene early. that's what we're both saying. >> if you've got any of these symptoms, say to your doctor "i want to be tested for this." >> it can be as simple as outpatient treatment. then it can be checked every few years. that's what you need to do. it also has a lot of emotional ramifications, because chronic pain is so debilitating. your ability to earn a living. you miss all kinds of family events. your hormones. >> it is evexly belly button surgery with a little telescope.

>> thanks both so much. much more to come from here and from cannes. but first this is "today" on nbc.

back now at 8:47. in "today's american story with bob dotson," an 8-year-old super hero whose special power is the gift of music. >> reporter: he prefers his super hero nickname. peaceful warrior. >> my special power is to fight fear, sadness and pain with music. hey! drop that lady's purse or i'll do this flute! >> no! >> that was the bad guy. >> reporter: how long have you loved music? >> since i was a year old.

>> reporter: a baby born with no working kidneys. ♪ >> reporter: music took him out beyond the limits of his life. he spent most of his childhood tethered to machines until his mom gave him a mother's day gift three years ago. her kidney. >> they took the ivs out and he says, where's my drum? how many of us wake up in the morning feeling how great it is to be living? >> reporter: he loves music as much for the experience it brings into his life, as for the music itself. the other day he struck up a friendship with a man who came to entertain at seattle's children's hospital. ♪ >> reporter: matteo had more on his mind than a few giggles.

matteo first came here in memory of a friend whose 4-year-old daughter died after brain tumor. he kept coming back, as constant as the need, most months traveling 1,000 miles from his home in los angeles. for 12 years. ever since the day he almost died in a fall from a mountain. >> the ground broke because i was so close to the edge. in that time i thought, well, this is how i die. >> reporter: but, he's still here. just like recci. at this check-up, his mom got some difficult news. the kidney she gave her son may only last six more years. then they would have to look for another donor. >> i'm not going to cry. i'm not going to cry but i can feel my heart breaking. >> reporter: the family decided to focus on the joy recci finds in life. that's why they encouraged him to become a super hero.

>> got to work on that one. >> reporter: his new friend matteo was writing a symphony for super heroes and asked him to help compose a song. >> we both had an idea of what this song should be about. ♪ when i play the world feels better ♪ ♪ everyone feels soothed >> reporter: what's it like clab wa collaborating with an 8-year-old? >> it is awesome. so much more fun than collaborating with executive producer. >> reporter: matteo won a grammy award for "juno." this performance with the seattle symphony was just as powerful. the peaceful warrior. recci's song helped raise $189,000 for sick kids whose parents cannot afford treatment.

♪ >> reporter: that's what super heroes do. for "today," bob dotson, nbc news, with "an american story" in seattle. up next, from

welcome back to cannes where

for the 12 days of the film festival, this place is known as hollywood by the sea. but it's not just the stars that make this place shine. no, here in cannes the energy and the buzz go far beyond the red carpet. the champagne is more than just a wish. the caviar more than a dream. in cannes, it's all about the good life, enjoyed by locals, tourists and celebrities alike. >> the first time i came, i was kind of in shock by it. >> reporter: there's glitz and glamour everywhere. the main boulevard called la quasette. and beyond the bay, a sea of yachts, one bigger than the next. >> reporter: during the film

festival, space comes at a premium here. the waiting list for a prime location like this can be over a year. right now i'm on a 150-foot yacht. one is actually called "the lady joy." it is owned by new york philanthropist denise rich. for the next 12 days, it is on yachts just like this one where you'll find the hottest parties in cannes. >> we throw a big party every year in cannes. a lot of our friends come. many of the artists in the music business, as well as in the film business and it is just a lot of fun and everybody has a really good time. >> reporter: the wealth of this area extends beyond cannes as well. less than 25 miles away, monaco, a place that has more millionaires per square mile than any other place in the world, making this region a playground for the wealthy. really is a lot of fun around here. kind of a feast for the eyes. we were out and about last night. they some parties for the premier of "robin hood" an things like that.

you got people walking down the street here in black tie and lots of music coming from a lot of the restaurants. it was pretty cool, meredith and ann. >> matt, i know this isn't your first time there. you seen a lot of changes this year? >> you know, i guess like most things it's getting bigger. you see more tents erected on the beach here, more pavilions, more corporate-sponsored events. i think that's the way of the world. but i would imagine though when the film festival is not here, this town goes back to being just kind of a great little resort town, 70,000 people, right on the mediterranean. but clearly it is different for these 12 days. >> are we going to have any trouble getting you to come home? >> we're working on it. we're apparently having some issues but we are working even as we speak and hopefully i'll get home in time for the concerts. our thanks to the crew here in cannes, in particular big dave moody who we like to call the king of camera one. so thanks to everybody. >> all right, matt. you take care. up next, your local news.

>> live, local, latebreaking. this is wbal-tv 11 news today in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. here is a look at one of our top stories. baltimore police are investigating a deadly hit-and- run crash involving a pedestrian that could happen just before 2:00 at north howard street in west baltimore to two pedestrians were crossing the street and one of them was struck and killed. the vehicle fled the scene. one man remains at a critical condition after a double shooting in northeast baltimore. shots were fired around 7:00 last night. one victim was rushed to hospital on the other was treated for non-life threatening injuries.

>> now let's take a look at the forecast with tony pann. >> we have shifted the wins to the northeast. it is going to be a cloudy day, relatively cool, with high

temperatures in the upper 50s and at low 60s. a chance for a little bit of light rain showers and drizzle activity. the chance for rain goes up to nine. there will lead be thunderstorms tomorrow. some of them will be strong or severe. high near 80. at this point, we still think it will be a dry weekend. sunshine on sunday. we will take up his 71. >>